I was horribly disapponted to find out that the submission period closed early 
For posterity, here were my submissions: http://fff.fathom.org/pages/opalcat/sdmb-smilies.html
Opal: Your “nerd” smiley is great!
What is the necessity for smilies?
Get rid of them so people learn how to stop using these crutches and actually convey their idea to readers.
Plus is there a reason for a pink unicorn? If you’re going to add a smiley then use:
8===0 or ( . )( . )
In a formal presentation, such as a book, memo or newspaper article, a smilie is inappropriate. First, in expository writing, it is up to the author to set the context. Second, it is presumed that the work can be edited.
A message board, in contrast, consists of haphazardly edited writings. In fact, it’s a lot like conversation, without the gestures or facial expressions.
Hence the emoticon. Used properly, it can soften words that may appear too harsh.
With sufficient time and care, harshness can be edited down or out, of course. Barring that, an emoticon is a handy way of softening one’s words. This is especially important when addressing an individual in writing, heptapod.
…
(See, doesn’t that last sentence seem harsh?) In general, methinks, saccharine posts are better than glaringly harsh ones, although the best are neither.
Opal: Maybe, I’ve missed something, but I wasn’t aware that the submission period had closed. (There was a point when it did close (on 5/12), but then it reopened.) I sure hope that emoticons are still being accepted: I submitted a couple today.
No, the last sentence does not seem harsh.
Smilies detract from what the author intends to convey to the reader much in the same way poor spelling or grammar will put someone’s writing in a bad light no matter insightful the author is in their message.
These emoticons really don’t seem to be used to convey an author’s mood, meaning or act as a form of punctuation but as decoration for boring old text.
I completely disagree, hetapod. Emoticons attempt to bridge the gap between bland text and conversation where body language and facial expressions can be utilized.
Try this one out for size:
Nice comment you jerk!
Take a look at how emoticons can change the meaning of the sentence:
Nice comment you jerk! 
Nice comment you jerk! :rolleyes:
Nice comment you jerk! :mad:
Yeah, I could change the wording of those sentences to make the emoticons unnecessary, but not when writing in conversational English. In conversational English, huge amounts of meaning are conveyed by tone of voice and/or facial expression. Emoticons make up for that. The only other option is to make everyone use more formalized “written” English. And A) that’s not gonna happen and B) I wouldn’t want it to.
Fenris
I’m guessing you don’t spend a lot of time in GD; a quick search of pink unicorn in GD gets 133 hits…
Heptapod: These emoticons really don’t seem to be used to convey an author’s mood, meaning or act as a form of punctuation but as decoration for boring old text.
I’m not sure whether you are referring to all emoticons or merely the ones in this poll.
Be that as it may, an emoticon can certainly convey meaning, as articulately shown by Fenris. The author’s actual mood, IMHO, is none of your (or my) beeswax, as it were.
I agree that it would be better to keep purely decorative smilies off the board, unless they could be restricted to certain areas, such as MPSIMS. But many part company with me on this: they maintain that decorative smilies are fun, as I understand it.
Finally, I would note that emoticons are labor-saving devices. They allow language to be softened directly, albeit crudely. This is extremely useful, as not all of us possess the language mastery of a Fenris, Scylla or Anthracite.
OpalCat - in this thread it’s explained that the submission period was closed and then re-opened, as flowbark said.
heptapod: The Invisible Pink Unicorn
Smilies added:
[ul][li]another ambivalent (as a separate category since it looks to me more like a “Jekyll and Hyde” type of ambivalent than a “wry” ambivalent)[/li][li]a barf[/li][li]a bloody homicidal clown[/li][li]Cecil[/li][li]cry (separate from crybaby, because “crying” and “crybaby” are two different meanings in my book)[/li][li]another lovestruck[/li][li]another nerd[/li][li]another smashie[/li]two more uhohs[/ul]
How sweetly do those words caress my ears! When the rosy lips of flowbark uttered that sentiment, my mind was filled with a feeling of ineffable goodness, as if a spring zephyr had wiped away all the sorrows and cares that I had harboured in my breast. Nay, even more! My soul hath been transformed into a rose garden, with the delicate flowery perfume magically turning all my unkind thoughts into lightness and loving care.
Too bad the “wally” is too big.
:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p
:p:mad:p:p:p:p:mad:p
:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p
:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p
:p:mad:p:p:p:p:mad:p
:p:mad:p:p:p:p:mad:p
:p:mad:mad:mad:mad:mad:mad:p
:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p
:p:p:):p:p:p:):p:p
bah, dangit. i hit submit instead of preview to see if this’d work or not. i wanted to make a megasmiley with 
and :mad
hurgle burgle
Hmmmm. We’ve got a forum for flames. Maybe we need one for treacle.
[list=A][li]After receiving an e-mail from the author of “crybaby”, I decided to combine “cry” and “crybaby”.[/li][li]Added “yikes”, “LMAO”, and “worry”.[/li]Only space for 4 more new “concepts” of smilies. Reminder that the deadline is Friday 24 May 2002 (exact date and time being listed in the ATMB thread on the subject.)[/list=A]
And also added NSZ (no smiley zone.)
treacle? Doesn’t that come out of wells?
Treacle? I thought that was just another euphemism for “the shake.”
Oh, and in my completely unbiased opinion, I’d just like to add my support for the bloody homicidal clown. Arnold, you are a gentleman and a scholar for allowing that sublime work of artistic genius to be displayed amongst such equally–but not as relevant–masterpieces.
Come to think of it, I doubt you will find such an equally masterpiece anywhere.
Bloody homicidal sniff clown. It’s choke so, so, sublime. :Flowbark, deeply moved:
Treacle: Had to look that one up, just to be sure.
I think that “worry” may be functional as well.
“Ambivalent” (#41) should substitute for the other ambivalents, as long as the extreme emotions ( Big Grin & psycho) are understood as caricatures.
Question To Dopers: How do you suppose the emoticon of your choice enables the fighting of ignorance? I’d like to see some advocates for :worry: , 
or whatever sound off.